Understanding in a Car Crash
by Spooky-Girl
Summary: A car on the side of the road, in thie middle of nowhere. A man, a woman, and their son, trapped. Waiting to be rescued really gives a person time to think. Rated R cos I'm not sure what I might do further on. Enjoy, and R&R! LAST CHAPTER UP NOW!
1. Awake

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the idea.   
  
Understanding in a Car Crash  
  
  
  
The first thing to hit him was the smell. It was hard to place at first, but not entirely unfamiliar, and it hung heavily in the air. Then, as the relative numbness of unconsciousness hit him, he felt the pain. It, too, was hard to pinpoint; it seemed every inch of him hurt. Over the ringing in his ears, he couldn't hear much of anything, either. He suspected that too would fade in a matter of time. With no other choice, Jimmy opened his eyes.  
  
Blinding white.  
  
His first reaction was to panic, inferring blindness. Gradually, however, his eyes adjusted to the glare, and he began to make out shapes, then details, realizing he was staring out the windshield at pure whiteness. As his eyes began adapt to the brilliance of the sun bouncing off of snow, he could see the spiderweb cracks that marred the windshield.   
  
What had happened?   
  
Immediately he cursed that thought as the memory rushed back to him like a tidal wave. He had been driving Kim and Joey out to the country to look for a real Christmas tree. Joey had been so excited, he couldn't stop bouncing on the seat, gabbing about how they were going to get the biggest tree out there. Kim had grinned at him, amused by the seven-year old's antics.  
  
But what then? Jimmy's foggy mind asked.  
  
It was hazy, but there. The memory of looking in the rearview mirror to grin at his son, the pull of the car as the tires hit a patch of black ice, and the loss of control. He remembered the steering wheel shooting out of his grasp, the tumble of the car. He remembered what he heard "steer into the slide", and he could remember fighting to grab the spinning wheel. He remembered a crunching, shrieking sound of metal, Kim and Joey's screams, and then...nothing.  
  
Oh, God. Kim. Joey!  
  
Jimmy's body instinctively tried to bolt upright, but his ribs protested the idea, and he hissed with pain, slumping backwards. From the pain, he guessed he must have hit the steering wheel pretty hard, and wondered vaguely why the air bag hadn't gone off.   
  
He let his head loll to the side, his eyes focusing in on the passenger seat.   
  
"Kimmy," he tried to say.  
  
  
  
He was suddenly very aware of how dry, how scratchy his throat was as he spoke. It was a hoarse whisper, at best.  
  
There, slumped over, still held upright by her seatbelt, was Kim. Her hair, free of a ponytail, hid her face. He couldn't see her...  
  
He felt panic well up in his chest again, and his heart began to pound.  
  
"Kim!" he tried again, his voice no louder this time.  
  
"Shit, shit, shit," he whispered, dragging in a deep breath, his body aching.   
  
What should he do? What could he do?  
  
He lifted his gaze to the rearview mirror, slightly akimbo from the crash.  
  
A tear-stained face and wide brown eyes stared back.  
  
"Joey?" he rasped. "Joey, can you hear me?"  
  
His son nodded slightly, looking terrified.  
  
"Are you hurt?" he asked, taking a shaky breath and praying.  
  
Joey shook his head, still not speaking, but Jimmy could see a shallow cut on his cheek, and a bruise at his temple.  
  
"Is Mommy dead?" he asked, suddenly breaking the silence.  
  
Jimmy's mouth fell open. "No, Mommy's not dead. She's sleeping...why don't you see if you can wake her up? Be gentle."  
  
Joey nodded, having already removed his seatbelt, and crawled delicately over his seat, kneeling on it to reach out for his mother.  
  
"Mommy?" he whispered, touching her shoulder gently.  
  
When he got no answer, he called loudly, "Mom!"  
  
Jimmy winced, shutting his eyes briefly, but it seemed to do the trick. When he opened them, Kim was stirring.  
  
"Kimmy, wake up," he encouraged.   
  
Kim sat back, eyes open wide, and brushed her hair out of her face.  
  
"Oh my God," she whispered, looking around. "Jimmy...what happened?"  
  
"We crashed," he said stupidly, staring at the tiny trickle of blood running from her hairline. "You're bleeding."  
  
Kim quickly stripped off her seatbelt and twisted around in her seat and took Joey's face between her hands. "Are you hurt?"  
  
He shook his head. "No."  
  
She observed his cut, brushed her fingers lightly over his bruise. Satisfied, she turned to Jimmy.  
  
He tried to smile reassuringly, but frowned when her face paled.  
  
"Oh, Jimmy..."  
  
  
  
"What?" he asked her, truly confused and beginning to get tired.  
  
"I told you to wear your seatbelt, Jimmy!" she cried, scooting closer to him.  
  
"Yeah," he said, trailing off. All that talking was making him dizzy.  
  
"What hurts?" she asked with a sad kind of smile.  
  
"Everything," he replied, trying to return the smile.  
  
"Jimmy, be serious," she told him. "What hurts?"  
  
"Umm..." he said, trying to look past the spots ib his vision. "My legs hurt the most..."  
  
He followed her gaze down.  
  
"Shit."  
  
He guessed they must have hit into something with a great force of impact. The hood, the dashboard, the entire front of the car were crushed, and his legs were pinned. That at least explained the severe pain.  
  
"Jimmy...you with me?" Kim asked, waving a hand in front of his face.  
  
He shut his eyes as her hand moved, taking on a sluggish pattern, making him dizzier. "Yeah. I'm...yeah."  
  
"Jimmy, stay with me, stay awake..."  
  
It sounded as if he were underwater, everything muddled and dull.  
  
"Joey, honey, lean in the back and see if you can reach my purse, okay? Get my cell phone."  
  
He forced his eyes open, but they drooped again, the white snow piled in front of the car seeming to lure him to sleep.  
  
He heard a few buttons punched, the beeps loud in his ears while Kim's noice was muffled.  
  
"Oh, shit."  
  
My sentiments exactly, he thought.  
  
And that was all he thought. 


	2. Waiting

Kim's voice sounded far away, but even in his semi-conscious state he could hear it. She was shouting his name, slapping his cheek gently. With some effort he opened his eyes, saw her face swim into focus.  
  
"Thank God," Kim breathed shakily. "I thought I lost you."  
  
Jimmy frowned, the discomfort seeping back into his sleep-numbed body. "Still here."  
  
She brushed her hair out of her eyes, taking in a breath. "How are you feeling?"  
  
He shot her a pointed look.  
  
"Right," she drew out.  
  
  
  
Jimmy moved his gaze from her to the rearview mirror, and blinked hard. "Where's Joey?"  
  
"He's on the road," Kim said, biting her lip and shooting an anxious look out the side window. "He's got my phone."  
  
Jimmy opened his mouth to say something, but she cut him off.  
  
"I know, okay?" she said. "But there's no reception in here, and he's trying to find a place where he can get enough to call for help. I didn't want to send him, Jimmy, but I had to stay here with you."  
  
She sighed, looked at the passenger door, dented in like Jimmy's. "I don't know if I could get out if I wanted.   
  
"Does he..." jimmy furrowed his brow for a moment, trying to recall a lost thought.  
  
"Does he what?" Kim prodded.  
  
"...mittens?" Jimmy finished lamely, still looking confused.  
  
Kim frowned. "He's got his gloves, Jimmy."  
  
Jimmy screwed his eyes shut suddenly, arching his back and letting out a hiss of pain.  
  
"What?" Kim said urgently. "What?"  
  
He fell back limply, breathing hard. "Hurts a little, Kim."  
  
She smiled. "Well, if you can still manage sarcasm, I guess you're gonna be okay."  
  
He opened his eyes again, looking at her intently. "Joey can't use a cell-phone."  
  
"I showed him," she reassured him. "All he's gotta do is watch for the arrows to go up so he knows when to press 9."  
  
Jimmy nodded, shifting a bit in his seat, groaning slightly.   
  
Kim bit her lip again, leaned over him. "You okay?"  
  
"No," he muttered, inhaling deeply. "What the hell is that damn smell?"  
  
"What..?" Kim asked, peering at him.  
  
Jimmy didn't answer. He knew he knew that scent. There was only a matter of placing it, and then it wouldn't be annoying him so much.  
  
"Jimmy?" she asked again.  
  
Burning rubber. That was it. From the screaming tires, trying to catch at the asphalt. He'd smelled it a hundred times at accident scenes.   
  
  
  
A satisfied smile fell across his face. "Nothing."  
  
She gave him that worried look again.  
  
"How long has he been gone?" he asked suddenly.  
  
Kim pulled up her coat sleeve to check her watch. "About fifteen minutes."  
  
That meant he hadn't been out of it that long. That was good. On the other hand...  
  
"Did you make sure he zipped up his jacket?" he asked. "He hates zipping up his jacket."  
  
"I made sure, Jimmy," Kim assured him, reaching over to take his wrist in her hand to monitor his pulse.  
  
"He must be getting cold," Jimmy said distractedly.  
  
Joey had to be getting cold. He himself was freezing.  
  
Kim must have noticed his involuntary shiver. "Jimmy?"  
  
He looked at her.  
  
"Jimmy, can you lean forward for a second?"   
  
  
  
Every inch of his body screamed for him not to attempt it.  
  
"Just a little bit," she said.  
  
Holding his breath and screwing his eyes shut, he leaned forward the slightest bit, felt Kim's hands probing the back of his head, the side...  
  
"Shit!" he cried as her fingers hit a sensitive spot.  
  
She pulled her hand away and he fell back against the seat, breathing heavily.  
  
"Jimmy?" she asked.  
  
"Wha?" he muttered.  
  
"Did you know you were bleeding?" she asked, holding up her hand.  
  
Crimson stained her palm.  
  
Jimmy furrowed his brow yet again, thinking. "My head doesn't hurt."  
  
That wasn't entirely the truth. It did hurt, but not as much as his legs, which was probably why he hadn't noticed it so much.  
  
He explained his theory to Kim. In response, she bit her lip again, looking out the window for any sign of her son. 


	3. Worrying

A light flurry of snow began to fall, barely visible beyond the slightly tinted windows of the car. Kim was biting on her lip again, her eyes alternating between Jimmy and the window. He understood why. He wasn't sure how much more time had passed, but he knew that Joey wasn't back yet, and that was reason to worry.   
  
He weakly lifted his hand to her face, and placed his fingers on her lips, gazing at her with slightly bleary eyes. "You're making yourself bleed."  
  
She held her own fingers to her lip; they came away red. "Oh."  
  
"He's gonna be okay," Jimmy said, trying hard to believe it. "You know he's a slow walker."  
  
"Yeah," she said. "I'm sure that's all."  
  
The conviction in her voice was about as low as the temperature inside the SUV.   
  
Thinking about the cold only made him feel it more, and another shiver passed through his body.  
  
That brought her attention away from the window.   
  
"It's cold," he said, simply, telling her what she already knew.  
  
"You have a blanket in here, Jimmy?" she asked, peering into the backseat.   
  
He thought for a moment. "In the back...in the crate. I think."  
  
She leaned as far back as she could without totally crawling into the backseat. He felt a pang of jealousy. His legs were stiff and painful, and he wanted nothing more than to move them, no matter how much it might hurt.  
  
"Got it!" she said triumphantly, settling back into the front seat.   
  
Jimmy shivered again, looking at the blue blanket. He had used that for a picnic once...with Brooke.   
  
"Here," she said, laying the blanket partially over him.  
  
He laid there, attempting to clutch the edge of the blanket with numbing fingers. He winced as Kim cuddled up to his chest, trying hard to mind the injuries, keeping most of her weight off.  
  
"Sharing body heat," she explained.   
  
By her tone, he could tell she was also trying to reassure herself. Maybe as long as she was touching him, he wouldn't...  
  
He reached his arm up with some effort, draping it around her shoulder, pulling her closer despite his pain, thinking the same exact thing.  
  
"It'll be okay, Jimmy," she said softly.   
  
Her eyes were still on the window.  
  
"You'll be okay," she said softly.  
  
Jimmy wasn't entirely sure. The pain in his chest was building up, becoming greater with every breath.   
  
Something was wrong.  
  
What was wrong? He couldn't place it. Something...his stomach, his chest, his throat, all ached, burned.  
  
"Kim I–" he choked out, coughing once.  
  
She pulled away as if he were burning her skin. "What?"  
  
"I-my-," he tried to speak, but felt only overwhelming pain and dizziness.  
  
"Jimmy?" she asked, placing her palm on one of his cheeks. "What is it?"  
  
"Hurts," he whimpered in a voice so small it was barely audible, and not at all like his own.  
  
"What does?" she asked.  
  
He couldn't bring himself to answer, so consumed in the fiery pain.  
  
Kim stared down at him worriedly, yet unable to do anything for him.   
  
He began to coughed again, a harsh sound, his eyes shut tightly, a hand to his chest, pressing lightly, and moaned.  
  
"Jimmy!" she cried. "Oh God, oh, God."  
  
  
  
Jimmy opened his mouth to say something, dragging in a deep breath. "God...Kim..my chest..."  
  
"Hang on for a second, Jimmy," she said, and pulled the blanket away.  
  
He said nothing, just kept his eyes shut in pain.  
  
She gently lifted up the hem of his shirt and unbuttoned the top of his jeans, pushing them down a bit. She sucked in her breath, seeing a massive bruise on his left side, stretching, as far as she could tell, all the way to his upper chest.   
  
"Oh, God," she whispered. "One more second, Jimmy."  
  
She took in another breath, and probed gently at his abdomen with her other hand.  
  
He let out a hiss in protest, and when she pressed harder, he all but screamed, his eyes tearing up involuntarily.  
  
"Okay, okay," she said soothingly, pushing his shirt back down but leaving his jeans undone.  
  
"What?" he said, panting raggedly. "What is it?"  
  
"Don't worry, Jimmy," she lied. "I think you just bruised yourself very badly."  
  
Jimmy nodded, in too much pain to tell her that this was almost, but not quite, as bad as the pain he had when he had been shot.   
  
Kim stared out the window with intensity written in her eyes.  
  
Please hurry, Joey, she thought. God please be okay, and just hurry. 


	4. Understanding

It's odd the things that come back to you when you're between a rock and a hard place. Sometimes in the heat of a moment, maybe when he was standing inside a burning building, or using the Jaws of Life to free someone from a car, he would remember the first day he and Kim had brought Joey home from the hospital. Or maybe the day of his sixth birthday when his mother surprised him with a brand new bicycle, even though she had told him they couldn't afford it.   
  
Now, his legs trapping him inside the freezing vehicle, his ex-wife huddling at his side, unsure as to where his son was or even if he was still alive, Jimmy 's thoughts drew him back to a warm apartment he hadn't seen for years...  
  
"He looks so beautiful," he heard Kim whisper, though he knew she wasn't speaking.  
  
He could see it as clearly as if he was actually standing there, and he didn't know whether to be grateful for such a clear, happy memory, or to be frightened at it's implications.  
  
He looked over, knowing he should see the passenger side of the car and instead seeing Kim, looking younger, fresher than she had in a while. Her hair was down around her shoulders, and he felt tempted to reach out, to touch it and see if it felt as soft as it looked. He looked at her goofy red and green sweater, a smiling Christmas tree emblazoned across the front, and felt an ache in his chest. It wasn't the pain he had been feeling so strongly since he first work up. It was a nostalgic ache of both pride and regret.  
  
He followed her gaze and saw what captivated her so deeply.  
  
The crib he had set up for Joey just days before his birth. The mobile of fish swinging in an invisible breeze at the headboard, and tucked gently below, in a light blue baby blanket, his son.   
  
The baby gurgled and smiled at his parents, his chubby cheeks and shining brown eyes an overwhelming sight.  
  
"Jimmy!" Kim cried. "Did you see that? His first smile!"  
  
He heard himself say, "It's almost as beautiful as you."  
  
Kim blushed and smiled, looking so young, so proud, he would have sworn she was actually glowing. "Stop."  
  
Had she actually giggled? Yes, looking back, she had. They had been so...happy.  
  
"Merry Christmas, Kimmy," he again heard his voice say.  
  
"I love you, Jimmy," she replied, wrapping her arms around him and kissing him tenderly on the lips.  
  
Somewhere on the side of a road, the sun almost completely sunken behind the horizon, a fresh sheet of snow falling across the crumpled hood of their car, Jimmy's eyes shot open.  
  
"Kim?" he whispered into the dimness.  
  
In an instant, she was sitting up, abandoning her position under the blanket.  
  
He felt the cold seeping back into his side where her body had been huddled.  
  
"Kimmy?" he whispered again, just needing to hear her voice.  
  
"I'm right here, Jimmy," she said, taking his bruised hand in hers. "What is it?"  
  
"Kim..." he hesitated. "Kim, I'm scared."  
  
"It'll be okay," she told him, but he could hear the tremor in her voice.  
  
"Joey," he said, coughing once. "He's safe. Someone must have found him, and he was confused, or he was scared, or he didn't remember where we had wrecked. But he's safe. He's okay."  
  
He saw her nod in the forthcoming darkness.  
  
"Do you remember when Joey was born?" he asked suddenly, painfully tightening his grip on her cold hand.  
  
"Of course," she replied. "Why?"  
  
"You were so beautiful. So happy," he said softly, remembering. "And I screwed it up."  
  
"Yeah, you did," she said, not unkindly.  
  
"And I'm so sorry," he said, his voice breaking.  
  
"Jimmy, don't worry about it," she said, now completely unseen in the darkness.  
  
"No," he said. "I can't...I have to say this."  
  
She placed her other hand on his, cupping it gently between hers.   
  
"I screwed it up. I screw everything up, and I'm not even sure why. Or how. But I do," he said. "And I toss around my apologies like they're a dime a dozen, but I really mean this now. I need you to know how sorry I am. About everything. Maybe I was just afraid, or maybe I'm just making excuses, but...Kim, I love you so much. I have never loved anyone or anything the way I love you and Joey. And it hurts me that we can never be the way we were before. But...God, I can't die knowing you'd never know how I feel."  
  
At the word 'dying' he heard her sob out loud, felt her shaking with tears.  
  
"I don't know if I can make it much longer, Kim. It's starting to...not hurt so much, and I don't think it's the cold that's numbing me. I'm scared that you can never know how I feel. My heart breaks over and over every time I think about what I did to you."  
  
"Jimmy please," she broke in. "Don't talk like this."  
  
He ignored her, tears running hot courses down his cheeks now. "I love you. I love you more than anything, Kim, please know that."  
  
"Jimmy," she sobbed again. "Please...please don't leave me!"  
  
"I'm tryin' not to," he said with a short, sorrowful laugh.  
  
"I love you too, Jimmy," she whispered, resting her head on his shoulder, her arm draped gently across his chest. "I love you, too..."  
  
"You shouldn't," he rasped through his tears.  
  
"I know," she replied truthfully, "but I still do."  
  
He clutched her arm with his hand, summoning all his strength, unwilling to lose contact with her, feeling himself sliding away.  
  
Crying, holding Jimmy as closely as she dared, she felt his breathing slowing, heard the wheezing soften, and willed him not to go. 


	5. Safe?

Kim Zambrano was not a weak woman. She was used to dealing with death. With Alex,  
  
Bobby...hell, even strangers in the bus, it was not a new experience for her. Not to say that she  
  
was accepting of it, or knew just how to deal with it. On the contrary, it tore her up on the inside,  
  
less so with the strangers, but when it came to people she knew, people she cared for, it was  
  
almost overbearing.   
  
Jimmy was her ex-husband. He had cheated on her, cheated on Brooke. He was by no  
  
means the perfect role mode. Nevertheless, he was a good man. He loved his son. He loved her.  
  
HE risked his life more times than she could count for people he didn't even know.   
  
Kim leaned back against her raised hospital bed, pulling her heavy blanket up to her chin,  
  
feeling the heating blanket's warmth radiating through her limbs, still chilled. As she stared out  
  
at the frosted over window, she felt her mind drawing her back to the hours before. To the rescue.  
  
They were calling it that now. A rescue.   
  
She had woken up to a knocking on the window of the car and looked up to see the beam  
  
of a large flashlight settling on her and Jimmy. She remembered wanting to take Jimmy's pulse,  
  
to check his breathing, to make sure he was still with her, but try as she might, she could not get  
  
her arms to work right. In that moment, it dawned on her that she was suffering from  
  
hypothermia. She had stopped shivering, and knew that to be a bad sign. She was literally  
  
freezing to death.  
  
But who was at the window?  
  
"Ms. Zambrano?" a voice called, muffled by the glass. "Kim? Are you okay? Is your  
  
husband okay?"  
  
Husband...? Jimmy!  
  
She tried to yell out, bu her voice was lost, and all she managed was a moaning sound  
  
that sounded like a wounded animal.  
  
"If you can hear me, try to shield yourselves," the voice came back, comforting. "We've  
  
got the Jaws of Life, and we're gonna get you out."   
  
Kim let her head drop back into Jimmy's chest, using what little strength she could  
  
muster to clutch tightly to his jacket.  
  
She remembered a screaming noise as the Jaws attacked the side of the car like a hungry  
  
wolf, tearing the metal away.   
  
"It's clear," she head a voice say, and felt a gust of cold wind descend upon her.  
  
"Get them out of there, and be careful!" the voice from before said.  
  
She opened her eyes, and was face to face with the kind face of a man in his mid forties, a  
  
paramedic jacket zipped tightly against the cold.  
  
"Kim?"  
  
She nodded, or at least thought she did.  
  
"You're safe now. My name's Murphy. Can you speak?" he said, keeping her occupied  
  
while his partner and a firefighter tried to get Jimmy out of the car.  
  
  
  
"You're going to have to let go," Murphy said, gently prying her off. "We need to get him  
  
help."  
  
"Is he..?" Kim rasped, her lips cracking and bleeding.  
  
"He's alive, Murphy," the other medic said, looking up from the stretcher they had Jimmy  
  
lying on. "But it's not lookin' good."  
  
He was alive.   
  
Alive, alive, alive.  
  
Kim shut her eyes and let Murphy and the fireman help her maneuver out of the car and  
  
set her gently on another stretcher.   
  
As they laid a heavy blanket over her, muttering medical jargon back and forth, as they  
  
began to carry her up the small hill to the waiting ambulances, she kept her gaze locked firmly on  
  
Jimmy, who was only a few feet in front of her.  
  
His eyes were closed, his skin a pale greyish color, his lips a mixture of blue and purple,  
  
one arm and both legs in temporary splints.   
  
She couldn't tell if he was still breathing.  
  
She glared at the icy window before her, recalling how they'd taken different ambulances.  
  
She still hadn't seen him. She still didn't know...  
  
"Your son showed up in our town half frozen," Murphy had told her. "He was shaking  
  
and shivering something awful. Ran right into the fire station and started yelling about his  
  
Momma and Daddy being stuck in a car somewhere. Poor kid didn't know the location, so we  
  
had to drive back and forth twice before we spotted you half hidden in the snow. You're a lucky  
  
woman to have such a son..."  
  
Yeah. She knew.   
  
She wished Joey could have stayed, but they had strict rules on children being over 13 to  
  
visit, and made an exception for the five minutes she had seen him. Her mother, bawling, but  
  
convinced Kim was going to be okay, had taken him back to her place to stay for a while.  
  
Her mother had no news on Jimmy either.  
  
"Good evening Ms. Zambrano," a cheerful voice said from the doorway.  
  
Her current doctor, Dr. Gary walked in, clipboard in hand.  
  
"How are you feeling? Less like frozen food?" he asked, smiling as he walked to her  
  
bedside.  
  
"I'd be a lot better if I knew what was going on with my - with Jimmy," she said  
  
grumpily.  
  
"I thought so," he replied, his eyes twinkling. "That's why I've brought you news."  
  
Kim sat up straighter, her aches suddenly forgotten. "How is he?"  
  
"Well," he said, his face more serious. "Kim, I won't lie. It was touch and go for a while.  
  
His spleen was torn in the impact, and having it go untreated for such a long period of time can  
  
be...well, let's just say that it's a damn good thing the bleeding was so slow. We've taken care of  
  
that in surgery, and now we're focusing on the exterior damage. He's got a concussion, a mild  
  
one, and it's not really a concern at this point. His legs, having been pinned in such a way for so  
  
long, are remarkably unscathed. There is some damage to the right tibia, a minor stress fracture,  
  
and ligament damage to the knee, which are more serious. The right arm received a more serious  
  
fracture, but also is nothing to be worried too greatly about. His ribs are cracked but not broken,  
  
and will be painful for a while, but there's not much we can do about that other than give him  
  
more morphine. He, too suffered mild hypothermia, but our heating pads are working wonders."  
  
Kim sighed heavily, a weight lifting from her chest. "So he's okay?"  
  
"Well, he's not out of immediate danger yet," Dr. Gary said. "But we're very optimistic."  
  
Kim smiled, feeling tears well up. "He'll be okay."  
  
The graying doctor smiled down at her.   
  
"When can I see him?" she asked.  
  
"When he wakes up," he replied, checking her vitals.  
  
"When will that be?" she asked again, more persistently.  
  
"Quite frankly I have no idea."  
  
"But he will wake up, right?' she said, her chest tightening.  
  
"Like I said, Kim, we're optimistic. Try to get some sleep," he said, leaving her with that. 


	6. Trying

She was sitting by his bed, as she had since the minute she was released from the hospital, on a inadequately padded chair, pretending she was actually concentrating on the book she held in slightly trembling hands. As if a romance novel could hold her attention when she was sitting by the bed of her ex-husband, who hadn't awakened in the three days he'd been in this hospital.  
  
  
  
She remained convinced that he would wake up soon. It didn't matter that the doctor's said the longer he was unconscious, the less likely it would be for him to wake up. Nope. Didn't matter a bit, because Jimmy was a fighter, and a damn stubborn man.   
  
He would wake up...it was just a matter of when and not if.  
  
This particular evening was rainy, turning the snow icy and dangerous. She absently wished all the drivers safe travels, and turned back to her ex-husband, draping the novel acorss her knee to mark her page.   
  
"You do know that after that little speech in the car, you are NOT allowed to give up and not let me give you a fifth chance, right, Jimmy?" she asked suddenly, her voice more commanding than the sorrow she felt.   
  
With a sigh, she stood up and tossed the book onto the chair. "I'm going for a drink. Don't wake up before I get back."  
  
  
  
She stretched and walked out of the room, heading for the little alcove down the hall that housed vending machines. As she walked, she pondered on whether to get Diet Coke or a coffee. The coke would be cold, and she was already chilled, but the coffee in the machine was awful, and sometimes you got tomato soup instead of cream when you hit the buttons.  
  
She turned the corner and pulled out a few coins, still debating.   
  
"Wonder if they have hot chocolate," she murmured, staring at the machine.  
  
Not wanting to spend too much time deciding, she chose the chicken soup, hoping it wouldn't be too harsh to stomach.  
  
As she rounded the corner again, she saw two people, one a nurse in blue scrubs, the other a doctor with his coat flashing white as he ran. They ducked into Jimmy's room, and she could sense the urgency.  
  
She stopped dead, the cup of soup falling from her hand and smashing to the floor, spilling hot liquid across the tiles and her shoes.   
  
  
  
A dollar fifty wasted and her husband was going to die.  
  
Run.  
  
Her body obeyed her mind with a small delay, and she ran to Jimmy's room, her heart beating wildly.   
  
  
  
Inside, three people - the doctor the nurse and Dr. Gary - were crowded over his bed, and she couldn't understand why no one was doing anything. He wasn't lost to them yet!  
  
"What the hell are you -?" she cried, shoving her way through them.   
  
Jimmy looked blearily up at her, then a relieved smile spread across his face. "Kim...they wouldn't tell me where you were."  
  
Dr. Gary turned to her. "We were more interested in his health."  
  
Jimmy looked at his arm, secure in a plaster cast, and at his knee. "I feel like shit. But seeing Kim's better than whatever you've got me on now."  
  
Kim blushed slightly and grinned. "Jimmy..."  
  
He could tell she was fighting the urge to fling herself into his arms. "Hey, Kimmy."  
  
"Well," Dr. Gary said, clearing his throat. "With no immediate threat to his health, I think we can take vitals and ask questions later. Let's give them some privacy."  
  
"Good idea, Doc," Jimmy said softly, looking at Kim.  
  
As they exited, she leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. "How do you really feel?"  
  
"Glad to be alive," he said seriously. "And lucky as hell to be looking in your eyes."  
  
She shook her head. "Stop being silly."  
  
"I'm serious, Kim," he said softly. "Feel like giving me another chance?"  
  
"I don't know if I can count that high,"she joked. "But if you're willing to try, I am too."  
  
"I'm not gonna let you down again. Never," he promised her.   
  
  
  
"Never's a long time, Jimmy," she said. "Longer than forever."  
  
"Good," he replied. "Cos that's how long I want us to last."  
  
She realized how corny they sounded, and knew that there was a lot that could go wrong, that would go wrong. She understood that.  
  
She also understood that he loved her.  
  
And in that moment, she was willing to try. 


End file.
